Review: Jack Johnson kicks off SPAC summer concert series

The music of Jack Johnson and opener Edward Sharpe with the Magnetic Zeros carried through Saratoga Performing Arts Center on Saturday night.
ERICA MILLER photos — THE SARATOGIAN

SARATOGA SPRINGS >> Things may have gotten off to a shaky start Saturday night, but Jack Johnson proved to be the perfect performer to ease everyone into the 2014 summer concert series at Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

Almost every song was a sing-along for the crowd of approximately 15,000 as Johnson played through a set list filled with mostly older tunes with a few new ones mixed in as he tours on his latest release “From Here to Now to You.”

There were a few miscues in the beginning, most notable was Johnson forgetting the second verse to Brushfire Fairytales’ “Flake,” though he tried to divert the crowd’s attention by mentioning last year’s Farm Aid that brought him to SPAC for the first time.

Although it was “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing,” from 2005’s In Between Dreams that got the crowd singing, it was the breakdown in “Flake” that got the band moving.

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Johnson even highlighted the misstep, explaining he had closed his eyes for the early portion of the show until he opened them to see the large crowd.

“It took me a second to get adjusted, but now we’re ready to party,” Johnson said as he went right into “Bubble Toes.”

It was just the invitation the crowd needed as it nearly drowned out the band by singing “La da dada da da” during the chorus.

From there it was a seamless transition into “Mudfootball” that got keys specialist Zach Gill doing his well-known shimmy on stage as Johnson looked on smiling.

Johnson’s four-piece band churned out numerous well-known songs such as 2003’s “Wasting Time,” From Here to Now to You’s “Radiate” and “Shot Reverse Shot,” as well as 2005’s “Banana Pancakes,” with the crowd singing along.

Sharing the spotlight never seemed to be a problem for Johnson. Gill had his fair share of moments as he ripped through solos on the keyboards and he had a melodica solo on “Radiate.” He even broke out the accordion for a few songs and handled vocals on songs like “Wasting Time.”

Johnson took some time to slow things down in the middle of the set with songs such as “Never Fade,” “Gone” and “Constellations,” a song written in B-flat, which Johnson said he was inspired to do after a conversation with Neil Young.

“He told me the universe is tuned to B-flat,” said Johnson, “and I thought that was pretty cool.”

One of the evening’s highlights came when Johnson broke into an excerpt of Led Zeppelin’s classic “Whole Lotta Love” until it morphed into In Between Dreams’ “Staple It Together,” featuring an impressive light show.

Bassist Merlo Podlewski surprised the SPAC crowd when he took the mic to spit a few bars during a break in “Staple it Together,” receiving a raucous response from the crowd.

Openers Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros did their part by getting the crowd up on their feet earlier in the evening with their nearly hour-long set.

Frontman Alex Ebert approached the stage as preacher does to his pulpit while his 10-piece band played through songs spanning the group’s three-album discography. The band seemed to be dealing with some technical issues.

Still, Ebert couldn’t contain himself as he was jumping into the crowd, urging them to get up and dance.

Some of the more impressive songs appeared in tracks such as “40 Day Dream” from the band’s debut “Up From Below,” Here’s “Man on Fire” and “I Don’t Wanna Pray.” But it was the incendiary vocals of multi-instrumentalist Crash on “Please!” from the band’s recent self-titled album that stole the set.

Ebert and the rest of his clan came back during Johnson’s encore to close out the evening with covers such as The Beatles’ “Rocky Raccoon” and Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released.”

Johnson and his crew were able to create a chilled-out atmosphere during his nearly two-hour set that saw the band sharing several playful moments. The aura transferred to the crowd as most were on their feet for the entire set.